Athens, GA: From fried chicken to banh mi
By Tom Maicon at May 13, 2009 | 4:24 pm | Print
Athens – When I attended The University of Georgia many, many drunken dawg barks ago, the football team was mediocre at best and there really wasn’t much of a restaurant scene to speak of, especially if it was ethnic fare you sought. But times are a changin’ in bulldawg country. Not only is the football team winning a heck of a lot more games these days — the dining scene has significantly improved.
Serious chef-driven restaurants such as East West Bistro (351 Broad St., Athens, Tel: 706.546.9378) and Five & Ten (1653 S. Lumpkin St., Athens, Tel: 706.546.7300) have put the Classic City on the culinary map. But before Athens can be taken seriously on the food front, some sort of resemblance of an ethnic scene must emerge from the city’s cheap noisy beer joints and bad pizza.
Since early last year two such contenders have begun to lay the ethnic foundation that will hopefully one day lift this city to a new culinary stratosphere.
The first to open its doors remains the city’s first and only Vietnamese restaurant Just Pho (1063 Baxter St., Athens, Tel: 706.850.1420). When the restaurant opened for business just over a year ago I admittedly feared for its longevity, not knowing how timid college students would react to a quirky Vietnamese noodle house whose walls reek of anise and clove.
But in reality, Vietnamese fare is mainly comprised of harmless but tasty grilled meats and raw veggies served over rice noodles — all ramped up with a side of salty, soury, sweet, spicy fish sauce. Nothing to fear, really.
The restaurant’s brainchild is An Nguyen, an international affairs major from Marietta, who opened the restaurant with her parents. During an interview Nguyen told the Red and Black (the student paper) the idea came to her “after three months of dining hall food.”
The menu has expanded beyond pho and egg rolls since the restaurant opened last spring. The French-inspired banh mi sandwich is the most recent addition. Known for being dirt cheap, no exception here, this sandwich should be a hit with broke college students and nearby victims of the recent recession.
The bread is crusty filled with the traditional stuff: nicely grilled pork, pickled daikon and carrots, cilantro and jalapeno peppers. The creamy “real” (their terminology not mine) avocado smoothie is better than any I’ve encountered in Atlanta.
My only lament is that the pho is flat. Perhaps it lacks MSG?
Too bad this restaurant didn’t exist twenty years ago.
The other restaurant opening that caught my attention is a downtown Thai place called Cozy Yum Yum (179 Jackson St., Athens, Tel: 706.208.1747). Early message board reports on Chowhound claimed this restaurant to be the “real deal,” head and shoulders above any other Thai restaurant in Athens, ever.
The space looks more like an underground speakeasy bar with a few tables along a wall and small kitchen in the back.
“Are you familiar with real Thai food?” asked a sweet Asian woman, the owner I assume.
“Yes, very familiar” we replied.
“Where are you from?” She asked.
“Atlanta” Melanie told her.
After clearing the air about our knowledge of “real” Thai food, and really in the mood for some, I noticed the menu wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. In fact, when I inquired about the absence of fish cakes from the menu, I was told that nobody in Athens would eat it.
One of those posters on Chowhound boasted about Cozy’s curries, though later in the same post the author claimed himself a novice of Thai cuisine. In the same thread, Hilary Brown, a food writer for The Flagpole in Athens, strongly disagreed. In fact, Brown claimed the curries to be the restaurant’s weakness.
I agree with Hilary Brown. The curries are too watery and come with vegetables that taste too similar to the frozen veggie bags at the local grocery store. Not to mention our panang arrived with broccoli and carrots.
We couldn’t find anything on the menu that measured up to the “real deal.” Curry puffs were served as sweet, to the point of annoyingly cloying, fried wonton wrappers, not pleasant flaky stuffed pastries you’ll find at “real deal,” and even ordinary Thai restaurants.
I do fear for the longevity of this restaurant. The owner repeatedly complains about no business, blaming the city’s lack of knowledge for Thai cuisine. Perhaps she should find a fresh produce purveyor and try serving vegetables that are more suited towards Asian cuisine, and stop serving thin, watery curries.
I do think the good people of Athens will embrace a “real deal” Thai place, just as they did Just Pho.
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